


Separated Siblings

by KC_R



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: :(, A lot of Hurt, Angst, Both of the twins are baby, Everyone needs so many hugs, Gen, Ghost is sick :(, God Tamer is awful, Hollow is trying their best, Mind Manipulation, Sad Ending? Happy Ending? Who Knows, Sibling Love, The Infection (Hollow Knight), They don't get emotions, Tiso :), Tiso is now down a finger, the Hollow Knight is another vessel, the radiance is a bitch, they're exploring Hallownest together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29447379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KC_R/pseuds/KC_R
Summary: Hollow makes a huge mistake.  Ghost gets kidnapped by Gladiators from the Coliseum of Fools. Hollow can only hope they can save them before it's too late.
Relationships: The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & The Knight, The Knight & God Tamer (Hollow Knight), The Knight & Tiso (Hollow Knight)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 27





	1. Stolen

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by a post made by Scribbleshank on Tumblr. Do go check them out, they are an amazing artist. I would gift it to them, but I don't think they have an AO3 account.
> 
> The angst-chamber that is the "Wait... What?" Discord also helped in creating this fic, especially Murderbirb.

Ghost carefully climbed up onto Hollow’s shoulders. “Steady,” they reminded, pulling the simple key out of their cloak and pushing it into the lock. 

“You’re heavy. Can’t hold much longer.” Hollow said, voidvoice sounding strained. Ghost twisted the key and pushed the door, upsetting the balance and causing the twins to collapse forward into the building. Hollow got to their feet and quickly closed the door behind them, keeping the eternal rain of the City of Tears out. The air of this room smelled rotten, like there was a corpse nearby.

“Elevator,” Hollow said, pointing at the elevator, reminding themself of the word. Words were hard to remember sometimes, but repeating them made it easier. That is, if Ghost was around to make sure they were remembering the right word. They had once forgotten the word for map, and, even though they seldom split up, Ghost was temporarily busy, so Hollow had attempted to do some adventuring on their own. They had mixed up the words map and stag, and when they asked if they could borrow Ghost’s stag, the other vessel was extremely confused. 

Even now, Ghost sometimes made jokes about it. It made Hollow mad, but also filled them with a strange, fuzzy feeling that made them go warm. It was nice, since it pushed out the intense cold that almost always filled them.

“Yes. Elevator. Elevators go up and down, remember?” Ghost reminded. Hollow nodded, almost excitedly.

“Up and down. I want to go up, preferably up and out of the city.” Hollow said as they climbed into the elevator. Ghost joined them, grabbing their hand. This was something Ghost had done many times before, it kept Hollow safe. They grabbed back, grip tight, to keep Ghost safe as well.

The two siblings stepped off the moving platform when it reached its peak. Distantly they heard soft singing, not that of Cornifer, but of another bug, one whose voice was sweet, kind, and welcoming. Hollow climbed on Ghost’s shoulders, pulling themself up to the next floor, before pulling Ghost up as well. The building felt so warm, it made both of the siblings relax almost instantly.

“Ah, Welcome to my stage little ones. I am Marissa, a songstress of some renown, though given the sorry state of this place, you may find it hard to believe.” The two’s heads turned, knocking into one another. Marissa let out a gentle laugh. Once the siblings were done with rubbing their aching heads, they turned their attention to the spirit upon the stage before them. Bundles of roses stood around the stage and lined the walls, the sweet aroma, and warmth of the room (in contrast to the cold, rotten city outside) created a calming atmosphere. “Huge crowds once flocked to hear me sing, then something changed. The audience, once so enrapt, began to leave.” Marissa explained. Hollow pointed at the spirit. “Spirit?” They asked. Ghost nodded, before returning their attention to said spirit.

“I continued to sing yet my voice fell silent upon their ears. Perhaps you two would care to listen to me sing? You'll be the first in an age to hear it. Even if only you two, it's a wonderful thing to have an audience again.” She explained. Ghost nodded excitedly before taking a seat on the stage. 

Hollow, however, walked up to Marissa, brandishing the dreamnail, and slashed her spirit away into nothingness. “Hollow!” Ghost screamed, jumping to their feet and racing over to their sibling.

Hollow looked at them, a hint of worry in their eyes. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” They asked.

“Why’d you do that? She was going to sing for us!” Ghost said, tears beginning to swell in the corners of their eyes.

“They’re dead. We can’t save them. They have essence and we need it.” Hollow explained.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re dead! They’re still speaking, still feeling, they’re alive enough to me!” Ghost cried, the tears forming in their eyes spilling down their face.

“I didn’t know you cared so much about this. I won’t do it next time.” Hollow says, as if they didn’t just murder a spirit. A kind spirit, no less. One who was going to give them comfort.

“This isn’t a matter of next time! How many spirits have you done this to? There isn’t a next time, they’re gone! They aren’t coming back!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know they mattered to you.” Hollow said, trying their best to calm down their crying sibling. They tried to reach out, to grab their hand and calm them, tell them they are safe, but Ghost pulled away.

“Why do you ruin everything? Why can’t you just let me be happy for once? I hate you!” Ghost screamed, before turning around and running out of the Pleasure House. Hollow stood for a moment, stunned. The rotten feeling that sometimes encompassed them began swelling in their stomach, the feeling that sometimes made them cry. They needed to fix this, Ghost shouldn’t be angry at them! Hollow quickly searched the surrounding area. Ghost liked flowers, right? When they ventured through Greenpath, Ghost had collected so many flowers, and then they had cried so much when Hornet destroyed them.

Hollow plucked the brightest, reddest flowers from each of the rotting bouquets. Once the flowers were big enough that they could stick their head into it and see nothing, they tied it together with a ribbon, gave an apology to the empty stage, and hurried out of the Pleasure House to go find their sibling.

But Ghost was gone, they weren’t in the Pleasure House, nor were they on the platform outside. Ghost never went far when they got mad at Hollow, they would be mad, they’d stop looking at them and refuse to speak, but they never abandoned them. Hollow fell back onto their behind, the rain running down their face and soaking them down to their core. Sadness, that was the name of this feeling. It soaked them deeper than the rain ever could, making them want to curl up, to drown in the ditches, to hurt. Why weren’t they crying? Why couldn’t they cry? Their only sibling had left them, hated them, and it was all their fault, and they couldn’t even muster up a single tear.

They slammed their palms against their skull, pulled on their horns, tried their best to push themself over the edge and cry, or at least to hurt themself enough to make up for all the pain they had caused Ghost. This wasn’t the first time they’d done this, usually, Ghost would stop them, but Ghost was gone. Ghost always helped them with emotions, would they even be able to feel anything without them? Would they just turn back into a statue like they were when Ghost first found them? Would they still be able to love their sibling, even when they aren’t here? Did Ghost still love them? They already knew they were unlovable, but Ghost always said that sibling love was permanent, that it wouldn’t go away. Had Ghost lied?

They pushed themself back to their feet. Even if their sibling was gone, they still had a purpose to fulfil, with or without love. That’s when they heard it. Yelling, splashing, a distant begging in the back of their mind. They saw a group of bugs shoving Ghost into a cage. They needed to help them! 

They jumped down from the ledge and hurried toward their sibling. Suddenly, pain shot through their body as the large blade of a Great Husk Sentry slammed into their carapace, shattering it into a thousand pieces and sending them flying into a ditch.

Ghost struggled against their attackers, kicking, slashing, squirming, but the infected bugs were much stronger than them. They were forced into a metal cage, nail stolen from them. Where was Hollow? Were they still in the Pleasure House? Before they could think anything else, a pair of hands pinned them to the ground of the metal cage, and another pair grabbed at their mandibles, prying them apart. Something disgustingly sweet was forced into their mouth, enough that if they didn’t swallow, they would surely suffocate. They knew what it was, recognized it from when Hollow had brought them an extremely infected vengfly for dinner. Infection was not safe to eat, it gave them headaches, allowed the evil light to get into their minds. They tried to spit it out, but one of their attackers shoved a cloth into their mouth and held it there. They tried to hold their breath as long as they could, but once darkness began swimming at the corners of their vision, they knew they only had once choice. They swallowed it, even though they knew it would be awful, and that it could potentially kill them. They had no other choice. The substance crawled down their throat, and the pain that shot through their body caused them to pass out.

Things did not get better. They awoke to a sky of orange, white clouds beneath them stretching out farther than their eyes could see. Before them was a strange ball of light, like their lumafly lantern, but so much brighter, so bright that it hurt their eyes. It unfurled its wings, and immediately Ghost knew that they were about to suffer. They could only hope that Hollow would save them before it was too late, before the infection took over their mind.

Hollow would not be able to save them in time. It was already too late.


	2. The Sickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both of the twins are in intense agony, but at least one of them is conscious right now. Ghost gives in to the infection. Tiso loses a finger.

Everything was a blur of excruciating pain. This could be said for either one of the twins, but for Ghost, they weren’t allowed any time to recover. The Infection assaulted their mind for every moment they were unconscious, and the moment they awoke, they were treated to more tortures. 

They had been taken to a place called the Colosseum of Fools, one of the gladiators had pressed something hot and metal to their back, and the pain still stung. They called it a brand, claiming that it meant the Colosseum owned them now.

They didn’t want to be owned, they wanted to be with their sibling. Hollow Knight was never good with directions, they constantly got lost, how would they ever get out of the City of Tears? How would they find Ghost?

Would they even come to save Ghost? A voice in the back of their head told them Hollow wasn’t going to save them, that they had left the City already, that they hated them.

And to be fair, Ghost hated them too. They didn’t want to, but they couldn’t think, every thought ended up back at how ruthless, how brutish, how awful Hollow was, and how much they hated them. These couldn’t be their thoughts, they didn’t think like this, they loved their sibling, why were they so mad?

They clutched at their aching head, hoping that it would somehow make the agonizing pain go away. The door unlocked. How long had they been in a room? When did they leave the City? How long has it been since Hollow abandoned them?

Did Hollow abandon them? They were sure they did, they were sure they had been watching from someplace far off, perhaps laughing at their sibling’s torture.

“So you’re the new recruit? I thought they said you were strong, you’re not even up to my waist.” The voice taunted. They barely heard it through the screams, the threats, the pain and throbbing of their mask.

“I know it hurts, but the paint gets more bearable once you stop fighting against it. I was one of the first here to get infected, and I’ve never felt better. It makes you stronger, faster, takes the pain away, but first, you just need to relax, let it crawl into every part of you, and then it’ll settle.” The voice said. They tried to turn their head enough to look at her, only catching a glimpse of her copper helmet and scarred face.

“No no, relax little guy. It’s all gonna be okay, and then tomorrow you’ll gonna be so strong.” She cooed. This wasn’t good, the infection was evil, it would kill them if they let it take them over, but this bug was being so kind. All the other infected bugs they had met scrapped and stabbed and bit, but this bug was so kind. 

Maybe… maybe they should relax? Maybe this would be good for them? They tried relaxing, and the pain slowly began to numb over. They could see now. Orange began to fog their vision, but it didn’t hurt as much anymore. 

“See? It’s not that bad. Just calm down. My name is Xena, I’m the Champion of the Coliseum of Fools. You’re strong, you’ll fit in around here. You just need to stay strong.”

\------

“Do you know the 57 precepts of Zote the Mighty, weakling?” Zote asked.

“Yes, I know your precepts.” Tiso groaned.

“Would you like to hear them again?” Zote asked.

“No. For the love of all the gods in Hallownest, no.” Tiso answered. He was going to go mad if he listened to this fool for another second! He needed to get some fresh air. “I’m going to go jump off the cliff so I can forget ever meeting you.” He added. Zote frowned, a bit more than he usually did. 

Before Tiso could even get to his feet, another fool walked into his view. He knew this fool! This was the squib he had seen in Dirtmouth, and in the Forgotten Crossroads, and at the Blue Lake, but something was wrong. Where was their twin? Every time Tiso had seen them, their twin was always right by their side. But now they were alone? And their eyes were glowing orange?

The kid, who Tiso was sure was no older than six, was heavily infected, orange cysts forming on their back and at the bottom of their mask. “Oh shit, squib? Are you okay?” Zote’s attention was also drawn to the kid, and away from his wooden sword.

The kid continued walking towards them with no indication that they even saw Tiso. “Squib? Are you feeling alright?” 

“Eh, it’s just that emotionless thing, it doesn’t speak,” Zote said, in his usual grumpy tone.

“No you dimwit, the other one is the one that doesn’t emote. Squib? What is it their twin calls them? Ghost!” Tiso yelled. This finally got Ghost’s attention, and Tiso barely dodged the swing of their nail. 

“Stay away from them, they’re newly infected, it’s getting used to it,” Xena said. 

“What did you do to them? Where’s their sibling?” Tiso hissed.

“What the fuck are you talking about? The Fools dragged them in, said they were half dead. We saved their ass. They said they were alone and bleeding, and they were already infected. I just helped them through it.” 

“Well, the Fools fucking lied. There’s two of them, they’ve never left each other’s side. You’re a fucking monster!” He screamed, grabbing the attention of every fool in the building. 

“It doesn’t matter anymore. They want to be here.” Xena said.

“They’re infected! They don’t know what they want!” 

“The infection works differently here, none of the bad side effects. If they wanted to leave and suffer from the infection, then they can, but they haven’t tried to leave.” She had a large grin on her face, like she had proven something, the smug piece of shit.

“They’re growing cysts! Its obviously effecting them differently!” Tiso practically screamed. Xena ignored him and attempted to walk past him, but Tiso stepped back into her path.

“Listen here, you bitch! They are a child! You’ve stolen them from their family, and I’m not going to stand around and let you do this!” He yelled, getting right up in her face, finger mere inches away from her remaining eye. She snapped her helmet shut, right on Tiso’s finger, causing him to scream out in pain.

“Well, they aren’t leaving, especially not with you. If you want them, you can kill them, and then scoop their remains off the rocks below.” Xena said with a laugh, before grabbing the kid’s arm and dragging him along. Ghost looked back at them for a moment, and through the orange fog, Tiso thought he saw some semblance of recognition, of a plea for help.

He had to save this kid, even if it would kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Realized I had a lot more to write and that it wouldn’t fit in 2 chapters. The chapter count has been upped to 3


	3. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiso saves Hollow; Hollow attempts to save Ghost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long, and sorry to the Four Daughter’s fans for delaying Chapter 20

The first thing they were aware of, when they regained consciousness, was just how much everything hurt. Hollow’s carapace hurt so much, but it would be okay if they could get out of the water and collect some soul. Alas, their limbs betrayed them, and the pain that was coursing through their body kept them practically paralyzed.

Suddenly, a pair of hands roughly grasped them and pulled them out of the water. The hands hurt, hurt so so much, pushing against the shifting shards of their carapace. The air hurt, blowing onto their exposed flesh. They writhed in an attempt to free themself, but that just caused more pain. So much pain, so painful that they passed out, once again entering the land of infinite darkness. 

To their surprise, they didn’t come back as a shade. Instead, they were greeted by a gentle light, and the pleasant feeling of hot water against their form. They were in a hot spring, that much was obvious, thanks to the feeling of their shell being mended together again, piece by piece, chunk by chunk. The pain was mostly gone, allowing them to observe their surroundings. The first thing they saw was the bug in the blue hood, Tiso.

He was sitting on the bench, leaned forward, tapping his foot nervously. Their eyes connected and the ant jumped to their feet and hurried over. “Pale thing, thank gods you’re alive. Does it still hurt?” He asks as he lifts Hollow out of the water, feeling over their shell for cracks. Hollow took notice of their lack of a pointer finger on their left hand. That was new, and perhaps it was worrying. After a moment they placed the toddler-sized adventurer back in the water, satisfied at their lack of injuries.

“Ghost? Sibling?” Hollow signed, remembering to add question marks at the end of each statement. 

“Ghost? That’s the name of your twin? I know where they are, but they’re in trouble. We need to hurry before it’s too late.” Tiso explained. 

Hollow nodded before pointing at Tiso’s missing finger. “My finger? Don’t worry about it, I’ve had worse injuries in the past.” He says. Looking over him, he doesn’t appear to be missing anything else. 

“Where is sibling?” They sign quickly, pulling themself out of the hot springs comforting waters. 

“I’ll lead the way, follow me. And hurry, I don’t know how long they have left.” Tiso says before running off. Hollow tries to keep up, but their little legs inhibit their speed. Tiso returns a moment later and picks them up, placing them on his shoulders. “I don’t have time for your little legs, hold onto my head.” He commands. Hollow grabs Tiso’s hood and holds on tight as the ant grabs a wooden board and slams it through a nearby wall, revealing a lift shaft. 

“I found a shortcut.” He announces. Hollow tightens their grip.

\----

Everything was a blur of orange. When they weren’t sitting in a cage, waiting for battle, they were fighting. Their time in the cage was full of pain, their mind throbbing, pain pulsing through every part of their body as cysts grew in their wounds, slowing their movements and suffocating their joints. If they still had control of their mind, they would be angry at the God Tamer, for lying, for saying it wouldn’t hurt and that it would make them stronger.

Instead, in what little time they were conscious, they thought of how much they hated their sibling, their sibling who betrayed and abandoned them. For the rest of their day, their mind was in a fog and their head empty of thoughts.

During one of their orange-hued fits of anger focused on their sibling, their cage shifted. This signified that it was time to fight again. How many battles had they fought? At least a dozen? Maybe a hundred at this point? Each with only a few seconds in between, a few moments where, if they were conscious, they could scrape off the cysts that clogged up their body. Why did only they suffer from this? Why did no one else have cysts? A traitorous thought told them that it was the God Tamer’s fault, but they knew this wasn’t true. She was so kind, she wouldn’t hurt them like this, right? It was everyone else's fault. They cheated, they must’ve used some technique to protect them from this awful pain. 

They scraped away the largest bulbs on their shell, preparing their nail for the fight ahead. Their cage shook again, and the gate opened, pushing them out of their cage. There was a series of awes from the crowd, and then Ghost’s eyes landed on their enemy. 

Hollow.

For a split second, they felt relieved to see them again, and then they felt angry. That bastard, that monster, that traitor, who abandoned them when they needed them most, who left them for dead. “Sibling, twin. Here to help.” Hollow said through void speak. Ghost hissed at them, drawing their blade. Hollow, on the other hand, didn’t reach for their weapon.

“Traitor.” Ghost growled, before dashing forward and using dash slash on their sibling. Hollow barely managed to dodge, the ends of their already tattered cloak getting cut. Distantly, through their rage, they thought of how their sibling was the one to help them learn this nail art.

“Sibling, please. Here to help, not hurt.” Hollow said, a hint of pleading in their voice, one that Ghost had never heard before. It made them stop for a second, before they tried to unleash a spell. Instead of any twisted soul emerging, instead, a glob of infection burst from their chest, and they momentarily felt light-headed. “Sibling… infected? How? Why?” Hollow asked.

“You left me for dead.” Ghost hissed, before dashing after Hollow again attempting to slash Hollow to pieces. They managed to land a hit on them, cutting open Hollow’s stomach. An odd sense of joy flashed through their body, only for a moment.

“I tried, got hurt, attacked, tried but couldn’t I’m sorry.” Hollow pleaded, as they clung to their chest and attempted to focus.

“Lies.” Ghost growled, slashing at Hollow again and shattering part of Hollow’s mask. They tumbled backward and pressed their small hands against their head. “You left me for dead. You Abandoned me, but God Tamer saved me and made me stronger. You’ve never helped me, only hurt me.” They said, charging up another dash slash. Hollow doubled over, attempting to pull something out of their cloak, but Ghost unleashed their nail art before they could, nearly cleaving Hollow in half and causing them to drop what they were holding. The crowd cheered and laughed, but Ghost froze, staring at the bundle of flowers that hung weakly in Hollow’s hand.

What have they done? Why did they do that? They managed to, if only momentarily, break themself from the infections hold. They focused their soul on their sibling in an attempt to heal their extensive wounds, only managing to heal the hole in their stomach. They needed to run, to get Hollow out of here and save them, but the infection began taking control of their mind again. There was too much of it in their body, they couldn’t resist it.

They turned their blade on themself, to get the infection out of them, in hopes it wasn’t too late for them to save Hollow. With every stab in their chest, every drag of their blade, they brought themselves back to their senses. The gates on either side of the Coliseum opened, and God Tamer rushed in. That was good, she’d help them, she said she would let them go if they wanted to. Instead of coming to their side, she rushed past, raising her blade above her head to finish Hollow off. Despite having a hole in their chest, Ghost managed to slash at her, knocking her away from their sibling.

God Tamer growled at them, heaving and coughing up a glob of infection, orange puss leaking from the holes of her helmet. She turned to Ghost, but before she could slash at them, cleave them in half, a shield flew through the arena and slammed into the side of her head, knocking her to her knees. 

“Sorry, I couldn’t fit through the hole in the door, is everything okay?” Tiso yelled as he ran up, and upon seeing Hollow nearly cleaved in half, and Ghost with a hole in their chest, his eyes went wide. “Oh shit! Are they okay? What happened?” He panicked. God Tamer pulled herself to her feet, letting out a guttural scream. Tiso scooped up Hollow and Ghost in his arms, turning heel and running the opposite direction, back the way he came and toward the exit of the Coliseum. 

God Tamer gave chase, and thanks to her infected form, she nearly managed to catch up to them. Thankfully, Zote threw himself at her, grabbing onto her leg and hitting her repeatedly with their shellwood nail. She hissed, yanking them off and throwing them across the room, but at that point it was too late, and the trio had escaped. “Send a group of Fools after them, I can’t let them escape.” She hissed, in a voice that was most certainly not her own, and echoed in an almost godly way.

\----

Tiso ran until he couldn’t run any more, and even then he dragged the three of them a little bit farther, until they were safe and hidden. The next hour was filled with Tiso muttering curses under his breath as he wrapped the twins in an excessive amount of bandages. As soon as he was done, he practically collapsed from exhaustion, but he was still awake enough to jolt up every time the siblings moved.

“I am sorry, Ghost.” Hollow said, after a long and painful moment of silence. “I should have realized that it was wrong, I am sorry I didn’t, I promise I will never do it again, I will never leave your side again.” They said. Ghost shook their head, causing Tiso to pull himself up again and stare at them in concern.

“I am sorry. I should have been more patient with you, you don’t understand things like this, and I didn’t help you to. I am sorry, I promise I will never do that again, and I will never let the infection do that to me again.” Ghost said. Even now, they could feel small amounts of infection in their joints, squirming and trying to make them do something awful, but they were stronger than this, they could overcome this, especially with Hollow at their side. Ghost turned their attention to Tiso, who was doing his best to relax, while still holding his shield in a white-knuckled grip.

“Sibling?” Ghost asked, while pointing at Tiso. Hollow nodded.

“Tried to save you, got hurt, saved me. Big brother.” Hollow explained. 

Tiso’s eyes shot between the two siblings. “Are you two talking or something? Am I going deaf?” He asked, a hint of paranoia in his voice. 

“Big brother.” Ghost signed.

“No, no I’m not your brother, I just just have a conscience.” Tiso said. His excuse meant nothing to the twins, who quickly swarmed him and hugged him. Tiso squirmed and tried to shake them off, to no avail. He sighed, accepting his fate. This was going to be a long night, week, month, probably years, as these kids certainly didn’t seem to be letting him leave anytime soon.


End file.
